M3GAN – An Imperfect Killer Doll Movie Worthy of the Hype

The first trailer and then the viral marketing campaign that followed already made M3GAN a pop culture sensation before the film was ever released. After all that work to promote the film, the next logical question is whether the film is worth all the hype. While not without its issues, the answer to that question is a resounding yes. When it comes to killer dolls, there’s Chucky and Annabelle but after this film, M3GAN will surely become the next addition to that pantheon. In the past, a 14A/PG-13 rating has often been a hinderance for horror films and this is somewhat the case here as one can’t help but want to see the doll go even more bonkers here. Coming from the writer of Malignant, it’s easy to see the parallels between both films with the latter almost like a lighter version. Despite this, the film is still a blast as steps were clearly taken to ensure that rating. Though it could easily have been a free-for-all campfest, it attempts to ground its admittedly ridiculous premise with a compelling story about overcoming grief. However, that balance between drama, horror, and moments of dark comedy doesn’t quite work as well as it could have.

Though that first trailer did a good job of putting M3GAN on the map, it also pretty much gives away the story but to fill in the gaps, the film follows a robotics engineer named Gemma (Williams) whose nearly life-like android doll named M3GAN (Davis) eventually develops a life of her own. Saddled with the care of her niece Cady (McGraw) following the tragic death of her parents, she became a gift of sorts for both of them. Gemma wasn’t ready to be a mother-figure by any means while Cady was still processing her grief and wasn’t ready to move on. As far as she was concerned, Gemma wanted to work on something that had meaning and M3GAN was a project that could revolutionize the toy industry. Designed as a companion who would learn from children and adapt, little did she know that her project quickly went above and beyond what it was initially designed to do as she was slowly losing control. Taking her directive to protect Cady from harm at all costs too far, M3GAN’s actions led to some unintended consequences to say the least.

But as with all things, money talks and the needing to profit from Gemma’s creation preempted logic and reason, creating the perfect storm for Gemma and Cady as it put even more of a strain on their already strained relationship. Developing an unhealthy relationship with Cady, M3GAN widened the divide between Cady and Gemma who looked to have lost her. Cady needed to grow up and past the fantasy of her relationship with M3GAN before it was too late. Grounding the story with that relationship between Gemma and Cady gives the film meaning and gets its foot in the door. However, as a means to introduce M3GAN and what audiences more or less already know what she does next, there were some issues as the character comes off as a little underdeveloped. While the kills are kind of cool and the campy vibe is fun to watch, a lot of it comes off as hollow as M3GAN takes leaps that don’t always fit. It appeared like there’s material missing to fill in at least some of those gaps therefore one can’t help but think that some of it was lost in bringing the film down to its rating.

In the end, the biggest marvel of M3GAN is the character herself. A well-done mix of practical effects and CGI, she wholeheartedly feels like a real character in the story who outshines all the human ones. She has the kind of presence, beyond the iconic dance scene, that will be hard to forget long after the credits roll. M3GAN may be rough around the edges but she is still worthy of a spot on the pantheon of other killer doll films. The climax of the film won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, however, after spending so much time on the build-up to that moment, it comes and goes with a whimper. In spite of character development issues, the film leaves to door open for more so maybe those improvements can come later. In terms of the other performances, Williams and McGraw give it some humanity. However, the grief/suddenly parenting subplots seemed like they were part of a different film altogether.

Though not without its flaws, M3GAN is still worth the hype but it just could have been so much more.

still courtesy of Universal Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.